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Divina, April 25, 2021 to the Bahamas, so the cruise is only 90 days out. Just made final payment today.

I've just booked my first MSC cruise. Being familiar with some other common cruise lines, I have a few questions about how MSC does things. I'm booked in an inside cabin Bella category for my first try using MSC. I've read such good things that I hope to book more cruises in the future. In the meantime ...

1) Can you use OBC to go toward gratuities?

2) Is it normal that there are no excursions listed for my booked cruise? (Or perhaps just a current Covid related glitch that the excursions aren't set up yet?)

3) I'm waiting for my status-match to be verified. I hope to be Gold, based on what I've read on Cruise Critic. I see in the benefit list that Gold card members are entitled to a 'welcome back cocktail." Is that one drink, or is there a sort of welcome back party where there are drinks and snacks?

9 minutes ago, shof515 said:

its not really 30% off. they raised the prices by 30% and then reduce it by 30% giving you the illusion it is a cruise deal

Yes. I know. 

Oh wait ... it rolled over ... again.

Also I would add this: I've found that whenever NCL advertises some new promo, it rarely has dropped the price of a cruise that I was interested in. I am booked on an August 2021 cruise and the price has dropped twice since I booked. But the price drop was not advertised in any type of promo. I only found out about it from my Roll Calll when an eagle-eyed fellow passenger spotted it. So I would suggest that yes, go ahead and book a cruise you are interested in, but check back frequently to see if there is any price drop. When you do that, you will easily see the shenanagins NCL plays when they start a new 'promo'.

On my current cruise, I have booked an Oceanview. I looked at the pricing a few days ago and it is still at $1500. Today, it is over $2600 - the same price as the Balcony. They did this a couple of months ago too. After the 'sale' was over, the Oceanview price dropped back down. So, yes, they are raising the price of the Oceanview to match the Balcony. Not the other way around.

NCL is at it again. Latest promo is 'book a balcony for the price of an oceanview.' Which I guess, technically is true. Except they raised the price of an Oceanview to match the Balcony, not the other way around. Only a little shameless.

Now that the 'Free Balcony Upgrade" offer is over, I see the Oceanview category has gone back down to its original price.

11 minutes ago, CruiseMH said:

I have three cruises in mind for next year and i do have their prices in mind as well cause i didn`t finally decide regarding cabin category as well.

And for all three cruises the prices for the balcony were in fact decreased to match the oceanview rates.

TO be honest i was really surprised because i also thought this promo is just a trick.But there are obviously some cruises where the promo is a real promo.

Glad to hear that it isn't across the board. The cruise  I was interested in literally kept the balcony at the same rate, but raised the Oceanview to match it. It is for the Star on August 8, 2021. (I  mistakenly stated Sept. in my original post). When you go to that listing, it states "FREE upgrade to balcony. ... only 3 days left" Three weeks ago the Oceanview was more than $1,000 less. It will be interesting to see if the Oceanview rate goes back down in 3 days.

So ... maybe they have been doing this for a long time and I just never noticed. We recently got an email for this promotion. I decided to go look at a cruise we've been keeping an eye on for September of 2021. I had actually printed out the prices for that cruise about 3 or 4 weeks ago, so I could keep it as a reference. When I went to look at it yesterday, it showed that the Balcony rate was, in fact, the same as the Oceanview rate. BUT, they had a RAISED the rate of the Oceanview to match the Balcony, not the other way around.

So, I guess technically, the title of the promotion is accurate. Although perhaps slightly misleading. Just like the FREE FREE FREE promos.

Sigh!

Hi Plato, We received the same email for our August 28 cruise in Norway on the Monarch. We are only in for our deposit, thankfully, but getting a FCC isn't really helpful to us because we booked this cruise specifically for this Norway itinerary, and they will no longer offer that. But if Pullmantur is really going under and the FCC might be available on either RCCI or Celebrity, that would be a great plus. 

I wonder how this would affect future cruise vouchers issued by Pullmantur due to cruises being cancelled because of COVID

This is a joke, right?

I save the plastic boxes that my salad mix comes in. They are about the size of a shoe box. When packing, I gently fold shirts and blouses and place in  the box to prevent them from getting crushed or wrinkled. Once on board, the box is handy to store misc items by  my bedside so they don't rattle round (cell phone, tea light, glasses, book, etc.). When its time to pack to go home, I usually just throw the plastic box away because I don't care if my worn clothes get wrinkled.

I bring one set of work-out clothes and wash them in the sink and hang up to dry after a morning at the gym.

I do like packing cubes to keep things organized. They are especially nice if you are spending any time pre- or post- cruise vacationing. Many times we have spent a week or so traveling and the types of clothing you need is vastly different that the types you need on the ship.

After over 50 cruises, I've limited my cruise wardrobe to mostly black and white clothes that are easily mixed and matched. I bring several scarfs to dress up a simple long sleeve top that can be worn multiple times. They can also add a pop of color.

Many of the other things that have already been mentioned are typically brought. Especially the magnets. I don't know if it has been mentioned, but we do carry an extra battery charger for our phones if we are out all day on an excursion. 

Finally, I have a 'travel' tank top that I can wear under my blouse when we are off the ship. I got it on Amazon. It has two zippered pockets, one on each side, that are big enough to hold passports, credit cards, and some cash. After getting our passports stolen in Italy many years ago, i like to keep these items close!

Cheers!

We were on the Joy for the January 17 Panama Canal cruise. I agree with most everything you reported, especially the absolutely wonderful Observation Lounge. However, I have to say we LOVED the production of Footloose. We actually went twice. Different strokes for different folks, but just my two cents.

Disembarking Joy today. Procedures have been in place for 3 days. DH and I wash our hands religiously. Don’t touch hand rails going up and down stairs. Use knuckle to push elevator buttons. Both still got sick. Do what you can, but there is no guarantee. We still had a great cruise. Joy is beautiful! 😀

40 minutes ago, buckeyefrank said:

Through a package it does

I suppose so. But I was talking about actual free.

19 hours ago, beerman2 said:

Damn 13 posts and nobody has blamed the free alcohol yet! She is very lucky indeed.

The Sun doesn't have the free alcohol anymore. 

My bad. I thought adding the credit card online was just a given and something you always do during online check-in. The OP was talking about gift cards.

2 hours ago, cmichael1279 said:

Had to do what through the travel agent? 

Tried to add our gift card to our account online before the cruise. We wanted to pay our gratuities with it. They said it had to go through the travel agent. We ended up waiting and doing it at Guest Services.

7 hours ago, cmichael1279 said:

To save the hassle of going directly to Guest Services upon boarding, I'd suggest adding a credit card to you account when you check-in online, then stop by GS at some point during the cruise when there's not a line - always works for us!

Just an FYI ... we tried to do this prior to our last cruise and were informed that since we booked through a travel agent, we had to do it through them.

Thanks, Bird!

We are considering booking a GTY balcony. We've been on some ships (not NCL) that had obstructed views, but they really weren't too bad. Does anyone know if the Joy has obstructed view balconies? Thank you!

On our first trip to Europe several years ago, my bag was stolen while on the train from Rome to Civitavecchia. We immediately got off the train at the first available stop and found a police station and filed a report. The Italian police officer handed us some paperwork and stated it would act as our passport throughout the duration of our trip, including being able to board an airplane on our trip home. He was wrong. We got back on the train and continued on to the cruise port. When we got there and tried to board, we were denied. They absolutely would not let us board without our actual passports. 

They did state that an official fax from the American Embassy in Rome would have sufficed, but since it was a Sunday, the Embassy was closed. It was a pretty horrible experience.

We had to go back to Rome and get a hotel and go to the Embassy first thing Monday morning. We were standing in line with many other travelers who had their passports stolen. Amazingly, they got us replacements quickly and we spent the entire day getting to Sicily to catch the cruise ship on its first stop. We made it by about 15 minutes.

(By the way, as a side note, my wallet, credit cards and drivers license were not in the stolen bag. We dodged a bullet in that regard.)

We usually book Insides but occasionally splurge on a balcony. For me, the balcony is not just about sitting on the balcony, but the view out the sliding doors and the visual space it provides. Balcony cabins are bigger. The natural light is delightful. Often times an Oceanview cabin is just a port hole. Even when it is a full window, the window is usually situated over the bed so its not something you can really sit and gaze out of. Also, on NCL the balcony cabins have a coffee maker in the room, which I so appreciate!